Paraplegic man bitten by brown recluse spider can now walk again

**Terminator** · 03-14-09, 01:02 PM

He has been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again, and his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet.

"I closed my eyes and then I was spinning like a flying saucer," explains David Blancarte.

A motorcycle accident almost killed David 21 years ago. At the time he might have wished he was dead.

"I asked my doctor, 'Sir what happened? I can't feel my legs'," said David.

Ever since, David's been relying on his wheelchair to get around. Then the spider bite. A Brown Recluse sent him to the hospital, then to rehab for eight months.

"I'm here for a spider bite. I didn't know I would end up walking," says David.

A nurse noticed David's leg spasm and ran a test on him.

"When they zapped my legs, I felt the current, I was like 'whoa' and I yelled," he says.

He felt the current and the rush of a renewed sense of hope.

"She says,'your nerves are alive. They're just asleep'," explained David.

Five days later David was walking.

"I was walking on the bar back and forth," he said.

Now David is out of the hospital and on his feet and walking.

David basks in his glory and gives a ray of hope to other hoping to walk again. The 48-year-old former boxer and dancer is taking it in stride, knowing his best days are still ahead.

David's dream is to see his 14-year-old twin daughters grow up and get married so he can walk them down the aisle and have that first dance.

**Rhino** · 03-14-09, 06:37 PM

Maybe one more bite and he'll be fighting crime!

**jmur5074** · 03-14-09, 09:35 PM

I wonder what caused that...

**sweetpea** · 03-14-09, 11:47 PM

WoW that has to be a Miracle!!

**Rhino** · 03-14-09, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by jmur5074

I wonder what caused that...

I'm not doctor but it could have been a number of things, I'm sure. IMO it's probably just a fantastic coinsidence.

**Retdetsgt** · 03-15-09, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by Rhino

I'm not doctor but it could have been a number of things, I'm sure. IMO it's probably just a fantastic coinsidence.

Yeah, I think the poison of the brown recluse attacks the flesh, not the nervous system. A friend of mine got bit by one and the meat of his leg started to rot at the site of the bite.

**CTR man** · 03-15-09, 01:30 AM

WOW!!! I didn't know that the brown recluse spider was a native to California. Especially near my area. I always thought that they frequented the Southern US States. They must be doing wonders in Rehab here.

Paraplegic Man Suffers Spider Bite, Walks Again - cbs13.com

Originally Posted by Rhino

Maybe one more bite and he'll be fighting crime!

Maybe he can also shoot spidey string from his wrists and swing from building to building like one of our favorite super heroes. What was his name again? Peter Parker?

**Odd** · 03-15-09, 04:15 AM

Wouldn't it be quite the thing if after all these years of debating stem cell research, especially fetal, if the answer to the nerve repair part of that issue had been overlooked because the money had gone to pet projects instead of broad research?

Or maybe I just don't like science being directed by popular interest, including political. Probably that's it. Either way, I hope this case is investigated and doesn't end up being written off as a feel good human interest story and forgotten because it lacks that sort pet project status.

**pgg** · 03-15-09, 05:08 AM

Originally Posted by Odd

Wouldn't it be quite the thing if after all these years of debating stem cell research, especially fetal, if the answer to the nerve repair part of that issue had been overlooked because the money had gone to pet projects instead of broad research?

Or maybe I just don't like science being directed by popular interest, including political. Probably that's it. Either way, I hope this case is investigated and doesn't end up being written off as a feel good human interest story and forgotten because it lacks that sort pet project status.

I was thinking about the same thing.

**Retdetsgt** · 03-15-09, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by CTR man

WOW!!! I didn't know that the brown recluse spider was a native to California.

Nope, my friend was bit up here in Orygun.....

**Captain America** · 03-15-09, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by CTR man

WOW!!! I didn't know that the brown recluse spider was a native to California. Especially near my area. I always thought that they frequented the Southern US States.

When I was attending civilian school right before I got out of the Navy , I noticed another E-6 with a pronounced limp in my class. During a smoke and coke break , I struck up a conversation with him and learned he was going through a medical discharge. He told me that he was in his backyard doing yard work when one of the little bastards crawled up his pants leg and bit him on the jewels. By the time medical personnel figured out what was going on , they had to cut his entire package off to save his life. He was really struggling with it mentally saying things like " when I use to be a MAN" etc. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he later committed suicide. This occurred in San Diego by the way.

**Retdetsgt** · 03-15-09, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Captain America

He was really struggling with it mentally saying things like " when I use to be a MAN" etc. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he later committed suicide. This occurred in San Diego by the way.

That's terrible. That has so little to do with being a man in reality.

My friend was surprised that when he got to the ER here, the doctor immediately knew what the bite was from and they had the serum on hand. I guess it's not that rare up here.

**mike01** · 03-17-09, 01:50 PM

My brother died last year from complications of spinal cord injury. He was paralyzed from the neck down due to a car accident. It took 14 years for the injury to take him. Over the years his body transformed from normal to very un-normal. I cannot imagine how a spider bite could heal a man in that condition, after that many years in a chair, in such a quick amount of time. Sounds like a miracle,but medically,it sounds impossible. If true,all i can say is wow,and i hope he enjoys his new legs.